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  • From: Michael Thomas <mdthomas AT mindspring.com>
  • To: internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: [Fwd: [sungroup] FC: French MPs propose open source software law, access to source code]
  • Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 23:34:52 -0400




-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [sungroup] FC: French MPs propose open source software law,
access to source code
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 15:49:12 -0400 (EDT)
From: Paul Jones <pjones AT metalab.unc.edu>


french socialists press for open code. will all documentation be
required
to be bilingual as well? this is quite a turn for a country that
persists
in supporting "artists' moral rights" to works even after the works have
been sold and resold several time.

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 13:45:29 +0200
From: Jean-Yves Le Déaut <jy AT ledeaut.org>
Subject: [PR] French MPs propose to generalise the use of open
standards,
access to the source code and introduce the 'right to develop compatible
software'

French MPs propose to generalise the use of open standards, access
to
the source code and introduce the "right to develop compatible
software"

Paris, 4/21/2000

For immediate release

http://www.osslaw.org

Paris, 4/21/2000 - Jean-Yves Le Déaut, Christian Paul & Pierre
Cohen,
3 socialist French MPs belonging to the governmental majority, are
proposing a law in order to "increase liberties and consumer
protection, and improve economic competition in the information
society". This law requires the use of open standards as well as
software which source code is accessible in all public
administrations
and organisations. Moreover, this law guarantees the possibility for
anyone to freely develop, publish and use compatible software, even
in
the case a patent or a trademark was filed for some communication
standard.

This law is based on 5 historical, juridical or constitutional
principles: free access to public information, retrievability of
public data, national security, consumer security and
interoperability.

The principle of free access to public information requires that
whenever digital data is exchanged with citizens or between public
administrations, the way this data is encoded and exchanged should
not
depend on the technology of a single vendor but rather use public
encoding techniques and protocols, also known as open communication
standards. Therefore, Article 1 states that "whenever exchanging
digital information, public administrations, organisations and
agencies are required to use open communication standards, based on
public rules and processes to exchange digital data."

The principle of retrievability of public data requires that digital
data created and archived by public administrations should be
retrievable in its original form at any point in time, even after 10
or 20 years, even if the software which was used to create this data
is no longer maintained by its vendor. The only way to guarantee
this
is to use software which source code is available. Moreover,
considering the recent advances of the Echelon digital intelligence
system, access to the source code is also required for national
security in order to ensure that software used by public
administrations and organisations do not include security holes.
Therefore, Article 2 states that "public administrations,
organisations and agencies are required to use software which source
code they can access."

In order to raise the level of competition in the information
society,
this law guarantees the right to develop compatible software. This
law
protects commercial publishers of proprietary software and developer
communities of free software against anticompetitive strategies by
enforcing in a practical matter the interoperability principle
introduced in the European software directive of 1991. Therefore,
Article 3 states that "any individual or moral person has the right
to
develop, publish and use an original software which is compatible
whith the communication standards of another software."

More competition means more choice for the consumer, thus more
security. And, as it has been proven lately, more competition from
free software means more open standards and higher privacy because
free software can be freely adapted, redistributed and modified to
fit
each customer's needs. As a consequence, this law tends to increase
liberties and consumer protection in the information society.

This law can be implemented immediately because most software
publishers are ready to adopt open communication standards such as
those defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the
Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF). Most publishers of proprietary
software, including Microsoft, have also publicly stated that they
are
ready to grant the French administration access to the source code
of
their products.

This law reminds that, in a market economy, States can play a
significant role on the economy and preserve the public interest.

References

Constitution française -
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/frame_constitution.htm

Directive de 1991 sur le logiciel -
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/fr/lif/dat/1991/fr_391L0250.html

Application de l'Article 19 du code des marchés industriels -

http://www.industrie.gouv.fr/biblioth/docu/dossiers/ntic/gfii/sb_gf-22htm

Code de la propriété intellectuelle - Article L122-6-1 -

http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/citoyen/code04.ow?heure=141439010341&code=CPROINTL.rcv&f3_article=L122-6-1

About Jean-Yves Le Déaut, PhD

Jean-Yves Le Déaut, 55, is a socialist member of parliament elected
in
the Meurthe-et-Moselle prefecture (Lorraine). He is the chairman and
co-chairman of the Office of Technology Assessment. He is author of
reports on nuclear energy, waste, geneticaly modified organism, AIDS
and research policy. As a professor of University, he is national
delegate for technologies at the French Socialist Party.

http://www.ledeaut.org

About Christian Paul

Chistian Paul, 40, has been a socialist member of parliament elected
in the Nièvre prefecture (Bourgogne) from 1997. He is in charge of
the
research group on new information and communication technologies at
the national parliament and organised the first French Days on
Internet. He is national secretary for agriculture and rural
development at the French Socialist Party.

http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/tribun/fiches_id/2338.htm

About Pierre Cohen

Pierre Cohen , 40, has been a socialist member of parliament elected
in the Haute Garonne prefecture (Midi Pyrénées) from 1997. He is
responsible for research for the social group at the national
parliament and, together with Jean-Yves Le Déaut, wrote a report on
the French Research Policy which was provided in 1999 to the French
Prime Minister.

http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/tribun/fiches_id/891.htm

Press Contact

Jean-Yves Le Déaut
Phone: 01 40 63 88 10
Email: jy AT ledeaut.org

http://www.osslaw.org
http://www.ledeaut.org


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  • [Fwd: [sungroup] FC: French MPs propose open source software law, access to source code], Michael Thomas, 04/24/2000

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